Tag: Mental Health Awareness

The evidence keeps on coming – combining your clinical career and #ADVENTURE is #GOOD for you!

A recent article in BMC Psychiatry highlights the positive mental impact of combining your clinical career with adventure.

There has been a recent swarth of well-researched article and papers highlighting the health benefits, both physical and mental, of adventure on patients.

However, we are all very well aware that being a medical professional carries with it its own burden of mental health stresses and pressures, so assessing the work/life balance for us is increasingly important too.

Anecdotally we at World Extreme Medicine have been aware for many years how beneficial being an expedition medic can be to both your mental health but also your career. Taking your medical skills to remote areas increases your ability to think outside the box, to innovate. It also helps to develop teamworking skills, mental robustness, empathy and also brings back to your regular workplace new procedures and an greater appreciation for the resources of a modern healthcare system.

The paper in the BMC Psychiatry focuses on ‘Indoor rock climbing (bouldering) as a new treatment for depression: study design of a waitlist-controlled randomized group pilot study and the first results’ but the extrapolation is clear.

Depression is one of the most common diseases world- wide with a one-year prevalence of 3.2 % according to the WHO World Health Survey 2007 [1]. It is one of the chronic illnesses that causes the greatest decrement in health [1]. In recent decades, there has been growing evidence [2–10] that physical activity has an important influence on mood, and thus, it has been proposed as a potential treatment for depression… <#readmore>

Further resources

Join World Extreme Medicine in the Italian Alps for a week focusing on the important topic of Mental Wellness and Leadership for medics and clinicians.*

‘In order to get well you need to have a friend and insight’.

A great summary from Emma, Paramedic, about lessons learnt at the WEMSki Conference.

A few years ago, World Extreme Medicine (WEM) asked itself the question ‘who takes care of the carers?’ when it came to medical professionals working in ‘extremes’; in war zones, as expedition medics, paramedics, as an isolated and overwhelmed GP, or as a nurse in a busy Emergency Department.

We then asked ourselves the question ‘what can WEM do to help?’ and we came up with our answer: WEMSki.

WEMski is a week of learning focused on mental health awareness on both a personal and team level. The timetable features a whole host of inspirational faculty and content created with extreme environment specialist Dr Kate Baecher, looking at the clinical psychology of leadership and teamwork in a variety of stressful working environments.

Professor Chris Imray talks about a clinical career, leaving a legacy and his passion for expeditions and adventure <readmore>.

Mental Health and Leadership within a clinical career..

Following a career as a medical professional by definition will come with a mental health pressure working in stressful environments where your decisions will have impacts – at times, big ones!

It’s a pressure that will follow you throughout your career from the obvious stress of being new to your job transitioning into more senior leadership roles and an awareness of the mental health impact on you personally, but also your wider team can have significant consequences.

As a senior NHS leader cardio-vascular surgeon Professor Chris Imray shares his experience and view of clinical leadership whilst presenting at the annual WEMSki conference in Italy highlighting how his ‘other life’, expedition leadership and climbing, has enabled him to strike a work/life balance.

Join World Extreme Medicine in the Italian Alps for a week focusing on the important topic of Mental Wellness and Leadership for medics and clinicians.*

‘In order to get well you need to have a friend and insight’.

A great summary from Emma, Paramedic, about lessons learnt at the WEMSki Conference.

A few years ago, World Extreme Medicine (WEM) asked itself the question ‘who takes care of the carers?’ when it came to mental health awareness and medical professionals working in ‘extremes’; in war zones, as expedition medics, paramedics, as an isolated and overwhelmed GP, or as a nurse in a busy Emergency Department.

We then asked ourselves the question ‘what can WEM do to help?’ and we came up with our answer: WEMSki.

WEMski is a week of learning focused on mental health awareness on both a personal and team level.

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